Abstract

The application of a frequency chirped pulse amplification sheme for XeCl excimer lasers is theoretically evaluated by solving the Maxwell–Blochequations [A. Icsevgi and W. E. Lamb, Jr., Phys. Rev. 185, 517 (1969)]. The calculated effective saturation energies for subpicosecond nonchirped laser pulses are much higher than the values that have been obtained experimentally. If this evidence indicates that optical nonlinear effects at high laser intensities are reducing the extraction energy, frequency chirped amplification followed by pulse compression, as demonstrated with solid‐state lasers, is also useful with XeCl lasers. This helps to reduce the peak laser intensity and increase the extraction energy.